Monday, December 15, 2014

...or things I don’t understand about our modern day culture.
Trends these days are as flighty as a leaf in a hurricane. Why? I don't have a clue.

For instance:

Frozen. I heard all the accolades. Read the headlines about how
marvelous it was. I almost bought the DVD on hype alone. Holy Talking Cats,
sure glad I didn’t. I saw it recently and, please Lord, wash that song out of
my head. Can’t say I hated it by any means. But it sure wasn’t How to Train Your Dragon 2. I watched
that animated feature several times and could sit for another showing easy.

Warbling. A
beloved song is introduced and you smile in anticipation...until the singer
starts in. She or he begins embellishing every other note into what I call
warbling. The “artist” supplies ten sounds to a single tone and everyone claps
and proclaims he or she a star. Sing it right, the way it was composed. Warbling
corrupts the melody.

Taylor Swift. This
young lady writes music, gives to charity, doesn’t twerk, do drugs, slut
around, and enjoys life. At twenty-five, she is one of the most influential women
of the age. She accepts the responsibility and acts on it. According to an
interview done for US Weekly, "I put every one of my actions through a
filter before I do them because that's the way my life is," Swift
continued. "That the reality… If I do something reckless or thoughtless or
careless, or I treat someone badly, that doesn't just affect me; it affects
that person. Then, if that story gets out, or some 10-year-old sees that I did
that in a news article… my actions do have ripples."

So why all the snide remarks, the hate? Beats me. Herd
mentality? Jealousy? I don’t get it.

And while I’m on the subject...Books, specifically, Twilight. It was a life-changer for me so the horrible comments about it leaves me appalled. Why the vitriol? Why the
nastiness? I Do Not Understand.

Politics. I do have opinions, but I keep them to myself in this regard. But other writers don’t. They
spout. They gnash. They invoke Hellfire in the name of Justice. Everyone has an
opinion and it’s good to converse on the subject. But Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat, don’t
take a headline and assume it is unadulterated fact. Do research. Check into
stuff. Then have an intelligent discussion.

But remember, you’ll probably
alienate half of your audience.

Do you agree? Disagree? See a trend you don’t understand? Share, share.